Neutralized: The FBI vs. Jean Seberg

by Garry McGee, Jean Russell Larson

Neutralized: the FBI vs Jean Seberg The Untold Story of a Disturbing Era in US History. The first detailed compilation of the FBI's campaign against international actress and champion of civil rights Jean Seberg. Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg includes Seberg's released FBI file, interviews with family, friends, former FBI agents, those who played a part in the FBI's program, and the bureau's role in using the mass media to destroy Seberg's standing in the public's eyes.

184 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2008

Reviews

[Zac · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve wanted to read this for a while, being a fan of Jean Seberg basically from Breathless alone. This was at least as much about COINTELPRO as about Seberg but included biographical and career details I didn’t know about. I knew more about COINTELPRO programs through books about Students For A Democratic Society/Weatherman but it was still interesting to get a blow-by-blow of a very specific operation and to learn more about the FBI tactics. So while none of this was surprising (except for perhaps the fate of Romain Gary!) the unjust behaviours of the FBI are always shockin, and I’d be very surprised if worse isn’t being done today with the permissions accorded by the Patriot Act.

In terms of the writing - there was some shoddy editing in spots (I noticed someone’s name spelled 3 different ways in the space of a paragraph) and it could be a little repetitive, but overall it was interesting, and an appropriate length. Obviously the authors were fans and researchers of Seberg after having been involved in another biography, and apparently did a deep dive into the unclassified files and published articles, and also interviewed a few people. There is a lot of copying from files and letters, but also original analysis from piecing together info from multiple sources. I wasn’t expecting much from this self-published, print-on-demand-style title but was pleasantly surprised.

[Beatrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly repetitive. The end of the book, with his rebuttal of AIM's conclusion and the appendices, are the best parts of the books. I agree with the FBI agent who said everybody played dirty. I don't think McGee made his case, except for the missing bottle of booze.

[Marquis Belton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a little disappointed in this book. It has some interesting information, but was so poorly written, I'm shocked it got publish.